Page 6 of Bitten by Bloodmoon (Mateless Shifters #2)

Lumi

I ’m alone.

Nyx just left, without locking me in a room or using his mind control to tell me to stay.

I could go anywhere, do anything.

It’s a trap. It has to be a trap. But at the moment, I don’t care.

Ambrose .

I have to get to Ambrose.

“I’m coming,” I say to Ambrose, making a split-second decision.

“Run east. I’ll find you,” he says back.

I turn in the opposite direction that Nyx and the rest of the pack went and start running.

The sweatpants and sweatshirt I’m wearing sag as I run, barely clinging to my body.

My breath clouds in front of me as I run in the chilly air.

But all I can think about is Ambrose. I have to get to him.

Just keep running. Everything will be okay if I can reach him.

The world narrows as I run, my heart clinging to the hope of him.

Of finding him. Of being with him. A restless energy dances through my veins with every step I take closer.

Wild butterflies dance in my belly, unsure of how I’m going to feel when I finally reach him, yet also fearing that Nyx is going to come for me again before I can reach Ambrose.

Suddenly, hands reach out, wrapping around my forearm, snatching me mid-stride.

I scream, but it’s muffled as I’m pulled into a man’s shoulder. I bury my nose in his shoulder and take a deep breath—evergreens.

Ambrose .

My arms slip around him, and I fold into his body, as his arms cling onto me with a desperation that says he’ll never let go again. Home—his body feels like home.

“You’re safe. I’ve got you,” Ambrose says into my head like a gentle caress as his lips kiss the top of my head.

I close my eyes, letting his words infiltrate me— I’m safe.

For a moment, I let myself believe it. But I want to be more than safe.

I angle my head up and press a hungry kiss against his lips.

A piece of my soul heals the second our lips touch.

He’d been holding onto it the whole time we were separated, and returned it to me when our lips brushed together.

I want more, so much more from him. I want to surrender to the kiss and let myself forget everything. The rise of heat flames in my belly, and I know how easy it would be to do just that. To forget. To ignore. To return to the fantasy world I was living in before.

As much as my heart could do it so easily, my brain won’t let it be tricked again.

He’s a witch.

He lied to you.

My eyes fly open, and I break the seal between us. “You’re a witch.”

His body tenses around me, but he doesn’t let me go. “I am.”

I frown as I push out of his arms.

He reluctantly lets me go, and I get a better look at him.

Dark circles have formed under his eyes, and there’s a heaviness to his body that I’ve never seen before.

Like, for once, being an alpha weighs on him.

But damn, is he as beautiful as ever. The gold in his eyes and hair shines as brightly as ever.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because—”

“No, not in my head. I need to hear the words out loud.”

He frowns. “I don’t want Nyx or anyone else to hear.”

I shake my head. “I need to hear the words.”

He sighs and then nods. “At first, it was because I couldn’t trust you with a secret that big. Other packs wouldn’t trust me if they knew what I was.”

“Just like they don’t trust Nyx because of what he is.”

He nods.

“But why didn’t you eventually tell me? After everything we’ve been through?”

“Because I couldn’t. When I became a witch, the pack made me vow to keep it a secret from anyone who wasn’t initiated into the pack. I couldn’t tell you. I wanted to so many times, but I couldn’t.”

“But I initiated. I became part of the Moonlight pack.” The memories of that night swirl in a tornado of darkness threatening to overtake this conversation and feelings if I let them. But I slam that mental door quickly, refusing to let them in.

He takes my hand in his and gently kisses my palm.

“I planned on telling you the second you were initiated, but then I was afraid. I’m afraid of sharing something so vulnerable with you.

I’m worried you might not want me. But mostly, I’m scared that you’ll accept me for who I am, and that would cause me to fall in love with you.

I couldn’t let myself love you. I refused to let my curse kill you. ”

I suck in a breath. His damned curse. The one only he and I know. The one that Nyx seems desperate to find out. The secret I will guard with my life. Because the curse could kill me if he doesn’t keep his feelings for me in check at all times.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you. I’m sorry that I failed to protect you against Nyx. I’m sorry that you had to find out from him. I’m so fucking sorry, my queen.”

My eyes water when I hear how authentic his words are.

I can feel the pain with every word. And as he stares back at me, I know he’s one step away from loving me with everything in his being.

We’re walking a fine line, and possibly the only thing keeping me breathing right now is that he hasn’t said the words out loud.

He’s terrified. I should be, too, but seeing him and knowing he’s my mate—knowing we are destined to break the curse makes me feel the complete opposite.

“I forgive you.”

“Don’t—don’t do that.” He looks away, like it pains him that I forgave him so quickly.

I caress the side of his face, turning him back to look at me before I gently kiss the corner of his lip. I don’t say anything else. There is nothing else to say.

“How is the pack? How is Emeric? Kael?”

“They’re safe. Although everyone will feel better once you are back home.”

My heart does a little flip when he says that. He still wants me, still considers his home my home.

“And Rowena? Is she really…?” I can’t finish the words.

“Yes.” He blinks back tears. “She’s gone. I did everything I could. Tried every healer I could, but she was already gone before they started working. Their powers are immense, but they can’t bring people back from the dead. I’m sorry, just another way I failed you and the pack.”

“You didn’t fail me or her. It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know that Nyx was going to kill her.”

“But I should have. I should have protected her. I should have known that he would have pulled something like this and not let him at the ceremony.”

Tears run down my cheeks in quiet surrender as my grief etches itself deep into my soul.

“You’re really okay? Nyx didn’t hurt you?” Ambrose’s voice trembles a little as he speaks.

“Nyx didn’t touch me,” I say firmly through the tears before I wipe them away, needing Ambrose to know that he didn’t fail to protect me. None of this was his fault.

His eyes trace over me in a frantic search, cataloging every detail of my body as if he’s going to find some sign of an injury on me that he missed when suddenly his ears perk up.

“We need to go. It’s not safe here,” he says, slipping back into my head like it’s his home.

My ears perk up as I try to catch whatever sound caused Ambrose to change the subject so abruptly. But my hearing and senses are nothing compared to his, so I hear nothing out of the ordinary. But I trust Ambrose’s hearing. “Let’s go.”

“Head east, follow my scent. Even if you aren’t in your wolf state, you’ll be able to smell the path I’ve created for you. Emeric is waiting a couple of miles from here. He’ll help you get back to the pack.”

I narrow my eyes, trying to make sense of the words flowing in my head. “What are you talking about? We are going back together.”

He shakes his head. “No, we’re not. I have to face Nyx.

I have to kill him. He took what was mine.

He threatened you. He could have hurt you.

He could have…” His teeth sink down into his bottom lip until blood spills out, running down his jawline.

I see the shift even though no physical traits have changed.

Heat rolls off his body and warms me without even touching him.

Muscles have gone rigid, and his eyes have glazed over with his thoughts of vengeance.

He’s going to kill Nyx.

Yes.

No.

I want to kill Nyx.

We could kill Nyx together.

But I can’t shift.

And Nyx is a vampire. Possibly his entire pack is, even though he claims they aren’t. He can’t be trusted.

I’m useless to Ambrose. It would be nothing more than a distraction if I went with him. But I can’t bear to leave him. I know their history. I know how badly Ambrose wants to kill Nyx. But Nyx is a vampire—a fucking vampire.

And Ambrose is a witch.

I don’t know who wins in a fight. But Nyx will have backup. Ambrose won’t.

I can’t lose him.

There’s also a weird flick of intuition growing in my chest, warning me that we can’t kill Nyx. We may really need him to end the curse.

My mind is swirling, but all I see is the blood and his pain. I have to stop it. I have to stop him from hurting. I can’t stop the anger. I can’t stop the pain of losing Rowena. I can’t stop anything else, but I can stop him from feeling this pain.

I cup his face with my hands, wiping the blood from his chin with my thumb. He freezes at my touch, barely breathing anymore as the heat of his body almost burns through me. Our eyes lock, but we don’t speak as his teeth somehow sink deeper into his lip.

I move my thumb up, brushing gently over the lip he’s biting.

He shivers under my touch, but doesn’t stop looking at me like he’s waiting for something.

A lump forms in my throat because I know what he’s waiting for—a sign that I forgive him. That I still want him. Still choose him as my mate.

I shake my head ever so gently in disbelief that he would ever think that anything could tear me away from him.

He lied, but then again, so did I. I’m still lying about what pack I belonged to before I met him. We’re still hiding so many truths from each other. That doesn’t change my heart; maybe it should. Maybe I’m a fool for still loving him, but I’m a fool in love.